Interpreter of Inspiration

Top 10 of 2015, Number 9

I’m really impressed with this one, because I wrote it nearly a year ago, and I’ve actually followed it pretty precisely. In 2015, I built a network of fellow publishing industry professionals. I learned so many things (maybe not all the things… but how is that even possible?) I learned more marketing that one can shake a stick at. I did lots of hard things (including finishing and publishing a novel!) I tried my hardest to be patient. And I tried to be a decent person in the process, doing a whole lot of “pay it forward” type things, and offering help anywhere and everywhere I could.

Yep, this post is a keeper! I’m glad it made the cut!

The Mountain of Dreams

Writing is a business. This is the mindset I’ve giving myself for 2015. I’ve always treated my writing like a hobby, and that has to change. In order to reach my goals of publication and eventually full-time writing, I need to hone the professional side of the writing craft.

Sadly, the business aspects of writing are something they don’t teach in school – at least, they didn’t at my university. We had classes on literature, poetry, journalism, technical writing, creative writing – but nothing on finding an agent, publishing, legalities, copyright, etc. They did drill plagiarism into our brains, but it was because of academic integrity, not due to the potential professional ramifications. Even still, much of what they might have taught on the business of writing would no longer be relevant. I went to college a century ago. (Okay, it was the 1990’s…. still, it was last century, right?)